WILDLIFE WATCHING -- The wonderful Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes rail trail between Plummer and Mullan has always been a wild experience, offering visitors the chance to see birds, coyotes, bears, deer, moose and other critters on a fairly regular basis.

But a friend called with a notable sighting at 4 p.m. today.

"Five black wolves," he said over a mobile phone from his boat about three miles south of Harrison.

"We're right off the east shore and the wolves were right above the trail. They went uphill within a couple hundred yards of a cabin on a hill before they melted away into the vegetation and trees.

"It was unbelievable," he said.